By the time of AI-S lenses Nikon had almost half of century of experience in lens making, so no wonder that they perform well...
I like these pencil shots, these colours and textures, nothing like this to be seen in today's mass-produced plastic ones.
Super! You micro/macro "action" guys amaze me! I can take a close-up picture of something on a table top (i.e., I like using the D810 mated to the Nikkor AF-S 60/2.8 - an excellent lens)... but holy smokes?!? An insect "in the wild" at close range? How do you do that? Kind of like exotic wildlife shooters with an 800mm lens... how long do you have to sit in a "blind" to get the shot? I've tried shooting bees on rhododendrons, but after a few minutes I am frustrated. I "get" everything with photography... so... I seek out "easy" subjects... landscapes that don't move! And then, maybe try to improve on composition and PP. But again, they aren't moving targets. Even with "sports" shooting (and sometimes I shoot jazz performances in dimly lit venues)... you can more-or-less anticipate the action. Insects? You guys are on a different planet! LOL. :-)
It can be funny watching them in breezy conditions as the wind shifts around. They just rotate around the stalk as if they are attached to a nice smooth bearing - but they never get blown away...
Not at all difficult. I do have an 800mm efl lens so I don't need to get that close. I am not sure of the angles / distances but this ~ 80mm insect would probably fill the frame at about two metres away. I can easily get to about 4 or 5 metres without spooking them. After that it's just move up slowly on the ground.